The Romans had no single term for the position: Latin and Greek titles such as Augusta (Greek Augousta, the female form of the honorific Augustus, a title derived from the name of the first emperor, Augustus), Caesarissa (Greek Kaisarissa, the female form of the honorific Caesar, a title derived from the name of Julius Caesar), basilissa (Ancient Greek: βασίλισσα, the female form of basileus), and Autokratorissa, the female form of autocrat, were all used.

In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum "mother of the castra"" and Mater patriae "mother of the fatherland". Another title of the Byzantine empresses was Eusebestatē Augousta "Most Pious Augusta"; they were also called kyríaκυρία "Lady" or déspoinaδέσποινα, the female form of δεσπότης "despot". Due to the practice of dividing the Roman empire under different emperors, there were periods when there were more than one Roman empress. All the Roman empresses are listed with some co-empresses. Not all empresses were titled Augusta, and not all Augustae were empresses since the emperor's sister or mistress could bear that title. Some Caesarissas and Despoinas that never were empresses are included, since the titles were quite similar to Empress; however, in the Eastern Roman Empire these titles are often more equivalent to the modern term "crown princess".

307 Caesarissa in the West
309 husband proclaimed to be emperor
April 310 accepted in the East
29 October 312 undisputed empress-consort in the West, senior-empress-consort in the empire
19 September 324 empress-consort of united empire

Neither the Empresses of Russia, the Queens of France, the Queens of Spain, the Queens of Italy or the Queens of the Hellenes claimed any sort of Roman titles and the claimants that clearly made the most point by using the word Roman in their title, the Holy Roman Empresses and the Queens of the Romans, ceased their claim upon the dissolution the empire in 1806. Currently the consorts of five of these states are pretenders in their own countries, themselves, and the current Queen of Spain claims no Roman titles. The status of the current pretenders to the Byzantine successor states of Trebizond, Epirus, and Nicaea are unclear much less their spouses; the despots of Morea became the Byzantine emperors (in exile) in 1453.

^There is a contradiction on Zoe Zaoutzaina's particular status 893–897. According to Symeon, the marriage of Leo VI to Theophano was officially void, allowing Leo and Zoe to marry within the year. According to Theophanes, the original marriage was still valid and Zoe remained the royal mistress. Theophano died in her monastery on 10 November 897. According to Theophanes, Leo and Zoe proceeded to marry at this point. Both Symeon and Theophanes agree that Zoe was only crowned Augusta following the death of her predecessor.